


Recruitment Strategies

by ladyjax



Series: Black Books Adjacent [1]
Category: Leverage
Genre: AU, Gen, Post-Series, Spinoff, references to The Unit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-16
Updated: 2018-01-16
Packaged: 2019-03-05 14:59:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13390296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyjax/pseuds/ladyjax
Summary: A series of stories about the first recruits for Leverage International.





	Recruitment Strategies

Passaic, New Jersey - 2013

They looked like any other digital natives at this particular cafe. The laptop that sat unused on the table top in front of its owner was devoid of any stickers but one: a cute anime-style Fennic fox. The table’s other occupant was tapping away intently on a tablet.

Mary Margaret Shea, Mags to her friends, sipped her cappuccino and waited. The light wind barely ruffled her hair, the bristle cut she’d affected in the Army one of the few things she kept when she got out. Along with the hacking. She was just a lot more careful now.

“So this is an actual interview?” Mags asked, amused. “When your file hit the Dark Web, I understood it to be every man,” Alec looked up and she continued. “Or woman, for themselves.”

Alec Hardison was not exactly what she expected. Tall, Black, and lanky with some slightly squirrelly energy that was somehow contained. Not that Mags knew that many people in her line of work directly. You do the job, you move on. Leverage, however? That name had some legendary shine in the five years it had been running. How would it not? Half urban legend, half legit crew of five running lean and mean and taking out big targets that most hackers could only dream of. 

“We’ve been having operators come at us ever since we put the Black Book file into the world,” Alec remarked. He set his tablet on the table top and leaned back in his chair, crossing his leg over his knee. “Figured that’s what would happen and for the most part, it’s working out so far. But there’s a few of the bigger fish that need special handling.”

“You want a strike team.”

“For lack of a better term, yeah.” Alec nodded at her. “You were military.”

A fleeting memory of desert heat and five men whom she’d helped slip across the Iraqi border into Syria and then never seen again rose unbidden. “You know the score,” she said frankly. “The wrong people catch up with you, they give you a choice. It was the Army or prison in Buffalo.”

“More than a few of us end up with the alphabet agencies. Don’t hear too much about folks who end up in other places.”

Mags shrugged. “You’re not supposed to.” The words dropped like stones between them as she lifted her cappuccino to her lips.

“Why do you want in?”

Their eyes met over the rim of her cup. 

“This brings you back into the life all the way,” Alec said. “You’ve been out what, two years?”

Mags put the cup back down and pushed it aside. “Almost three. So what.”

“So, one of these jobs goes south, it won’t be the feds knocking on your door. Some of these people? They’ll put you down quicker than you can say boo.”

She’d already asked herself this question a million times. Bravado and her sense of invincibility had long since been burned out in the Iraqi desert. Mags pulled her computer to her. With a few quick keystrokes, she pulled up her notes then spun the computer around and motioned to Alec. As he leaned forward to read, she said, “I know that company.”

“Excelsior International,” Alec read out loud. 

“Equipment suppliers. Tactical gear for the troops.”

“And?”

“Some of their shit was faulty. People died because of it.” Mags ground out. “They got off due to ‘insufficient evidence of wrong doing’.” She blew out a breath. “I may not have wanted to go over there but I met a lot people that I came to care about. The fact that some of them died because of the lowest bid on a contract is bullshit.”

Alec closed the computer with a snap. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card. Mags took it as he said, “You call that number, you get me direct.”

“That’s it?”

“Pretty much. I have a few things I want to run by you and we’re still talking to at least one other person that you’ll probably end up working with.” Alec grinned and held out a hand which Mags shook. “Welcome to Leverage International.”

Mags chuckled. “You’ve been waiting to say that haven’t you?”

“Been trying to tell my partners that it has a nice ring to it.”

“How’s that working for you?”

Alec shrugged. “They’re still coming around.”

**Author's Note:**

> Mags Shea first appears in the story, "...And other duties as assigned." She is partially based on a very minor character (listed as "Computer Hacker") in The Unit episode, "Into Hell, Part 1." The line about the choice between jail and Army is dialogue from the episode.


End file.
